Hey everyone, as promised I’ve been doing some reading. I decided to start with Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg.

I received this book last year as a gift from one of our work events and have been postponing reading it for a while now.

The book is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, but I honestly loved it. It’s one of those books that kinda touches all the uncomfortable truths you don’t want to deal with but for me that’s what makes it so awesome.

I really felt like I could relate to this book on a lot of the topics she spoke about and at some point even felt like it gave me a better understanding of my own behavior in the workplace. I’m not gonna go into the details of the book but what I took away from this book is that, as a female in the workplace, yes understand that a certain level of gender inequality may exist but it’s also our job as women to stand up for ourselves and stop waiting for someone to save us.

It’s in our hands. Don’t let your insecurities or doubts of your abilities prevent you from the career you know deep down you deserve. One other important note I took from it is, it’s okay to be human, to be feminine.

I could go on and on but that would never do the book justice. So I decided to compile my top ten of the most compelling quotes from the book that I felt I could relate to and inspired me the most.

My 10 most compelling quotes from Lean In:

1. “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship you don’t ask what seat. You just get on.”

2. “Trying to do it all and expecting that it all can be done exactly right is a recipe for disappointment. Perfection is the enemy”

3. “I wish I were strong enough to ignore what others say, but experience tells me that I can’t. Allowing myself to feel upset, and then move on- that’s something I can do.”

4. “Success and likeability are positively correlated for men and negatively for women. When a man is successful, he is liked by both men and women. When a woman is successful, people of both genders like her less.”

5. “One of the things I tell people these days is that there is no perfect fit when you’re looking for the next big thing to do. You have to take opportunities and make an opportunity fit for you, than the other way around.”

6. “Knowing that things could be worse should not stop us from trying to make them better.”

7. “Sharing emotions builds deeper relationships. Motivation comes from working on things we care about. It also comes from working with people we care about.”

8. “Careers are a jungle gym not a ladder”

9. “Gloria Steinem said it best: You can’t do it all. No one can have two full-time jobs, have perfect children and cook three meals and be multi-orgasmic ’til dawn … Superwoman is the adversary of the women’s movement“

10. ” I learned that effective communication starts with the understanding that there is MY point of view, (my truth), and someone else’s point of view (his truth). Rarely is there one absolute truth, so people who believe that they speak THE truth are very silencing of others. When we realize and recognize that we can see things only from our own perspective, we can share our views in a non-threatening way. Statements of opinion are always more constructive in the first person “I” form. The ability to listen is as important as the ability to speak. Miscommunication is always a two-way street.”

Go out and get a copy of Lean In. it’s available in most bookstores and even online. Takealot tends to have great specials on it. Let me know below what you think of the book if you’ve read it.